Monday, March 14, 2011

This was the headline of an article in the English Mishpacha magazine a few weeks ago (repeated last week in hebrew). The article details how the author met a yungerman who was learning in kollel for years who doesn't believe in God and he has no one to talk to about it. Anyone who brings up these types of emuna questions is immediately labeled an apikorus. Here is an unbelievable quote from the article:A group of teachers came to consult with this talmid chacham who is also a prominent figure in chinuch. One of the issues they raised was what to do about students who voice doubts about emuna. "How do you answer them?" the gadol inquired. "We silence them, and tell them that such such questions are not to be asked.""Why don't you just answer the questions?"Are there any answers to those questions?
Can you believe it? The teachers themselves doubt that their are answers.

The fact is that for the Charedi world there may not be answers. The questions in emuna that are raised are not new and have been dealt with in the classical Jewish sources like the Moreh Nevuchim, Sefer Haikkarim, Ralbag, R' Crescas, etc. However, many of the answers given in those seforim do not fit the current Charedi hashkafa and would be considered apikorsus today. They could say it we cannot and therefore unfortunately the teachers may be right.

I am planning on writing a series of posts about which will outline some of the major questions and the various answers found in the classical sources.